The Michigan Daily-Friday, August 4, 1978-Page 3
Milliken nixes budget,
defends abortion aid
LANSING (UPI) - Gov. William
Milliken yesterday vetoed a section of
the 1978-79 state welfare budget that
would have cut off funds for Medicaid
abortions.
In order to do so, however, Milliken
had to axe funding for all Medicaid ser-
vices-totaling $520.8 million. That
means the legislature will have to
rewrite the Medicaid budget.
THE LEGISLATURE, in writing the
$1.2 billion welfare budget, ap-
propriated $1 for non-therapeutic abor-
tions on welfare women. The measure
was constructed in such a way that
Milliken could not use his line-item veto
power to reject only the restrictive
D "Iy Photo by HN KNOX abortion language, but had to veto the
Hot item entire Medicaid budget.
This Pinto-owner has made sure that other drivers are aware of the consequences In his veto message to the legislature,
of a back-end fender bender. Ford Motor Company recalled the model when it the governor was critical of lawmakers
found that the car had a tendency to explode during collisions. for using technical tricks to try to get
Detroit strikers back to work
the funding cutoff "slipped past the
public."
"We should deal with it openly, based
on the courage of our convictions. We
should not attempt to cloud the issue or
attempt to pander to both sides of this
issue," he said.
"TO APPROPRIATE the grand sum
of $1 for 'nontherapeutic' abortions is a
cruel hoax on a segment of our
population which has already seen too
much of life's cruel side."
Milliken said he vetoed the anti-
abortion section of the budget because
it discriminated against the poor.
"We are not dealing with the substan-
tive issue of abortion," he said.
"Rather, we are determining whether
or not this freedom of choice is to be
given only to the most affluent in our
society. I strongly believe this should
not be the case."
MILLIKEN HAS LONG supported
individual choice on the question of
abortion.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has, in ef-
fect, granted each woman in this coun-
try the right to make her own individual
decision, based on the dictates of her
own conscience and circumstances in
consultation with her physician," he
said.
"It could force poor women to seek a
legal abortion under back alley, highly
unsafe procedures. I cannot condone
such a decision which ignorestthe plight
of the underprivileged and tells them
they are second class citizens."
MILLIKEN SAID he supports efforts
to provide birth control information to
women and to improve adoption ser-
vices.
"But I cannot say to a woman who is
pregnant, and who has after con-
sidering all the alternatives with her
physician reached the very difficult and
personal decision she should seek an
abortion, that she cannot have one
solely because she is poor," the gover-
nor said.
"Consistent with this belief and con-
sistent with my long-held belief on the
very controversial issue of abortions, I
must do today what I believe is right."
DETROIT (UPI)-Union officials
representing 3,500 striking sanitation
department and bus system workers
agreed to call their members back to
work yesterday and to settle grievances
through existing contract provisions.
There was no guarantee, however,
that leaders of the American
Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
union could convince frustrated
workers to end their three-day wildcat
strike.
A MEETING between the union
leadership and Mayor Coleman Young,
who had threatened to fire all strikers,
led to the agreement.
"The unions agreed to put their
people back to work and to sit down and
use mechanisms in the contract to
resolve grievances," said James
Graham, Young's press secretary.
"The mayor then said we won't fire
anybody."
"We anticipate by having full ser-
vices back by Friday morning.
Representatives of the unions and
departments will meet to begin to
resolve grievances."
UNION OFFICIALS who had never
approved the walkouts were not im-
mediately available for comment.
Agreement came as police assigned
to the city's legal department were
chasing union officials in an attempt to
serve a court order barring the illegal
strike. Young had delayed actual
firings while awaiting confirmation
that all union officials were served with
the court papers.
The strike evolved from long stan-
ding complaints among sanitation
department workers about mandatory
overtime. Many employees complained
that they were forced to work 12-hour
days seven days a week. Their gripes
were aimed at union leaders as well as
the city.
OTHER LOCALS with their own
complaints about existing contracts
joined the picketing. The Department
of Transportation, serving 185,000
commuters daily, was hardest hit and
was forced to stop service.
Graham said the settlement was not a
reopening of contract talks,
"The mayor made it clear he was not
going to bargain, and there were
existing contractual mechanisms for
settling differences," Graham said.
The strike had halted all trash and
garbage collection, forcing the city to
open five dumps and keep them under
police guard 24 hours a day. No serious
vandalism or other trouble was repor-
ted during the wildcat walkouts.
today-
Happenings...
... begin at 2 with a showing of the high seas ad-
venture classic, "Mutiny on the Bounty" at the Ann
Arbor Public Library, Fifth and
William ... Carolyn Gregory gives a poetry
reading in the Liberty/Division St. park from 6:30-9
... "A Child's World" opens at the Ann Arbor Art
Association gallery, from 7-9. The show runs until
the end of the month"... at 7:30, the Astronomical
Film Festival offers its 75th program in its nine-
year history. Tonight's features are "The Mystery
of Stonehenge" and "Cracking the Stone-Age
Code". That's in MLB 3 ... the Moliere Players
present the classic comedy, "The Learned Ladies"
in the Pendleton Room of the Union at 8:30.
Scent home
Dick Storm is usually a dependable news voice for
Hancock's WMPL radio station. But the other day
Storm really stunk. It got so bad, that station
manager Robert Olson has to ask Storm to leave. It
seems Storm was trudging down the Upper Penin-
sula city's main street before dawn Wednesday
when a skunk strolled across his path and let loose
with the aroma for which skunks are best known.
Storm returned home, disposed of his clothing, and
even took a bath in tomato juice-which is supposed
to eliminate the odor-but he still couldn't shake the
smell. He reported for work as usual, but before delay fetilization for up to six years, the attendants
long, Olson asked him to take the day off-so learned.
everyone else could take a breather.
I
Cheese on theirfaces
Several deputies in Nez Perce County, Idaho ap-
parently were moonstruck the other day when they
turned in a call that a fire-like glow filled the sky
about 13 miles east of Lewiston, near Lapwai.
Deputies said the closer they got, the bigger the
glow became. After a few minutes of silence, a radio
dispatcher asked the deputies more about the fire.
It was a false alarm, the deputies radioed back.
What they had actually seen was the moon on the
horizon. Such luna-cy.
Egg-citement at the zoo
It wasn't a test-tube affair, but the reptile staff at
the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque was puzzled
when a coachwhip snake laidseven eggs- and no
male had been around for over a year. But a little
scholarly digging explained it all. Attendants found
that snakes have the ability to store male sper-
matozoa in little internal folds and use it as needed-
to fertilize their current crop of eggs. And if there's
another delivery that can't be attributed to a recent
male visit, the staff won't be alarmed. Colubrid
snakes, such as the coachwhip, have been known to.
New playthings
Forget Barbie and Ken. Gay Bob has come out of
the closet. Bob is a 13-inch male doll who wears an
earring and a plaid flannel shirt open at the waist.
Now being sold in novelty stores for $15, Bob comes
in his very own cardboard closet. He sports a blond
crewcut and, according to inventor Harvey Rosen-
berg, "looks like a cross between Paul Newman and
Robert Redford." Rosenberg, of Manhattan, ad-
mits he designed the doll "to make a lot of money,"
but says Gay Bob is really a symbol of male
liberation. "Whether you're straight or gay,
everyone needs to come out of the closet, to 1 ive
more openly and freely," Rosenberg said. What's
next for the inventor? "Starting next year, we'll be
selling Gay Bob's parents, Fat Pat and Heavy
Harry," Rosenbery said. "They come packed in a
refrigerator, which is the symbol of obesity to fat
people."
On the outside...
Looks as if Mother Nature is a bit confused by Ann
Arbor's new double decker buses-she's ordered
genuine London fog for us early this morning. It
should clear up, however, leaving partly sunny
skies with a comfortable high of 75.